When the rover had left, it wasnāt entirely apparent whether or not they were actually allowed to leave. Yates knewĀ Owen had wanted to go OTG off the clock, to spend an hour or so memorializing the fallen guards from a few weeks ago, and while it wasnāt necessarily approvedā¦Ā they hadnāt been stopped. Even the few people who werenātĀ guards that were accompanying them. Maybe Command knew they needed to mourn. Besides, the guards werenāt about to make the same mistakes as last time. Not when that had cost them lives.
When they made it to Outpost 6, Owen and a few others had ventured off a little, towards where it had all gone down. It was different in the day light, the lack of predators around evident. He knew he couldnāt go all the way to the spot alone- it was too dangerous, and besides, the rain and regrowth wouldāve washed away the evidence. He couldnāt even hope to find bones.Ā Not in this climate, and not under those circumstances.
Heād sat a minute when he reached a small clearing, mostly alone since the Alia Terrans seemed to want to give him space. Owen cut off his parachord bracelet with a grimace and used some of the material to tie the sturdiest wood he could find into a cross. Heād find somewhere to put it, but even itĀ wouldnāt last long in this jungle. Still, he wouldnāt be able to forgive himself if he did nothingĀ to commemorate a fallen guard. His best friend. The person whoād saved his and many othersā lives. The trees almost echoed with the manās laugh, and it got him wandering a little. Somehow, he felt himself drawn south a bit to place the cross, and where he stopped, he lost his breath. Down at his feet was an identical bracelet to the one heād just cut- Axelās.Ā
Owen fell to his knees and scooped it up as tears welled in his eyes. AXEL. The bracelet was slightly torn, like it gotten snagged and ripped off, but still mostly in tact. He just wanted his best friend back.
Shit. Sure, that wasnāt the reaction Addison shouldĀ have had when sheād heard about Owenās bff disappearing.. dyingĀ like the others theyād lost. But Addison wasnāt good at grieving, or dealing with othersā grief. She preferred to throw herself into work until she was too exhausted to think, and then deal with it later alone. As bad as she was at giving sympathy.. or showing empathy.. It was just because thatās how sheĀ preferred it. But as similar as Owen and Addison could be at times, there were other ways they were polar opposites and Addie knew that he shouldnāt be alone, even if he wanted to be.Ā
Sheād climbed in the rover with some of the guards without hesitation, just waitingĀ for someone to stop them or question them- few people got on the wrong side of Addison Bennett and didnāt regret it, but nothing drastic happened. She rode in silence, staring out at the passing terrain though this time there was no excitement about going OTG and getting to leave despite not having the clearance. She didnāt even feel dread at the danger they may face, the danger those guards had faced a few weeks ago. It was just an empty hole in her chest devoid of anything other than regret for what her brother was going through. again.
Addison was just following along, trailing behind a little as everything sunk in. She remembered being a child before the fence had been finished, that feeling of anxiety sheād mostly forgotten creeping back in as her mind heard the sounds thatād terrified her so young. Sheād grabbed a gun from the rover to protect herself if need be, but most creatures lurked in the darkness not the daylight.Ā Owen knelt down in the dirt and Addison knelt beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder comfortingly.Ā āHey,ā she said softly. she gestured to what he was holding in his hands.Ā āWanna talk about it?ā
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